Gatsby’s Mansion “A factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin bead of raw ivy, and marble swimming pool and more than forty acres of land.”  —F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Real-life inspiration  Gatsby’s fictional mansion is thought to be inspired by Beacon Towers, a Vanderbilt family estate on Long Island.  Built in as a “pure Gothic fantasy”  The interior contained approximately 60 primary rooms and upwards of 140 in total.  The exterior was coated in perfectly smooth white stucco.  The owner sold it William Randolph Hearst 9 years after completion.  Hearst sold it 15 years later, and in 1942 it was demolished and a new house was built on its lot.

View from the driveway

The front lawn

The view from the beach

Viewed from above

Fitzgerald’s commentary  Gatsby’s mansion represents Gatsby’s position in the Long Island resort culture – gaudy and over the top, screaming “new money”

Tom and Daisy’s Mansion "The house was even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red-and-white Georgian Colonial mansion, overlooking the bay. The lawn started at the beach and ran toward the front door for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sun-dials and brick walls and burning gardens—finally when it reached the house drifting up the side in bright vines as though from the momentum of its run. The front was broken by a line of French windows, glowing now with reflected gold and wide open to the warm windy afternoon." –F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

From the front drive

From the driveway

From the water

From above